Mexican Judo Makes History as Prisca Awiti Wins Silver

With a Mexican mother, Kenyan father and born in London, judoka Prisca Awiti Alcaraz found her sense of belonging in our country, which she has represented internationally since 2017, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and will repeat performance in the great event during the Paris 2024 edition.

“I define myself as a disciplined person in life, someone who cares a lot about his family and his image, I am also kind. When I focus on something, I give my all until I achieve it, I can make people come to me. I care a lot about the people who are important to me, and I'm a bit sentimental,” she explained.

Judo was not the first sport he dabbled in, as she had a stint in gymnastics on a U-12 national team in her homeland. It wasn't until she was eight years old that she started practicing the discipline that would be her life path, thanks to the influence of her older brother and high-performance judo player, Philip Awiti.

“A very big inspiration was my older brother, who was a high performance judoka who won Grand Slam medals and competed in World Championships. I grew up watching him as my idol and wanted to achieve what he did or even more. It's still that motivation as I talk to him, and he gives me advice when something gets tough.

“I competed in a Youth Olympic Games in Europe, and for that participation we were given tickets to go to London 2012. I got to see Gemma Gibbons (Great Britain) win silver, and it was at that moment when I told myself that I wanted to be there, and I would have an Olympic qualification. That's when the dream started,” she revealed.

Two Olympic processes with different backgrounds

Prisca Awiti can boast of being an athlete with two consecutive Olympic qualifiers in her record, although it has not been a journey of only good times, as she confessed that the process towards Tokyo 2020 was “stressful”, in addition to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic forced that edition to be canceled and with an uncertain future in terms of the date to be held.

“One of the most difficult moments of my life was in the pandemic when Tokyo 2020 was canceled, because everything you have worked for many years is gone. I felt that from one moment to the next I no longer knew what to do because I had worked for that, and no one knew what was going to happen, I had a very bad time. Another was when I couldn't win bronze at the 2023 World Championship, it was quite sad to be close to achieving one of my dreams and lose it for whatever reason,” she said.

After her first experience in the great event, the reigning Central American champion embarked on a new cycle towards Paris 2024, which had a different taste in her mouth to the previous one and enjoyed each of its stages despite having to earn her Olympic ticket via world ranking (she finished in 18th position).

“My qualification to Paris ended at the 2024 World Cup, and I already knew I was going. I wrote to my parents and my family in a group we have; I feel that this time it was a happier moment because for Tokyo, with the pandemic, it was a very stressful qualification and I didn't take so much happiness because I was fed up with that process. For this cycle, I achieved the best results of my entire sporting career.

“I could tell my childhood self that we made it, that it was worth everything we went through, the good and the bad. That I congratulate her for not giving up at any moment and keep going, giving everything at every moment. There are people that you thought were going to be here all the time but no, just as there have been people that you never imagined would still be here. Thank you very much for the strength you gave me to achieve my second Olympic Games,” she said.

To Paris 2024 with Mexican pride and some faithful companions

The -63 kg specialist and four-time continental open gold medalist will enter Olympic action on July 30, a day in which she will compete from the round of 32 to the medal fights, so she said she is focused on what she sees herself delivering against the best exponents of the world.

“I promise to go to Paris 2024 to give everything of myself, my effort and every drop of sweat I have I will leave on the tatami in every fight. I go with the goal of a medal and I think it can be a gold. I appreciate all the support you have given me since I have been representing Mexico. I couldn't do it without you, thank you for being there every moment, especially in the bad moments, because that's when you need people the most; also to my team and training partners who are there to lift me up. If I win a medal in Paris, it won't just be mine, but everyone's effort,” she assured.

The representative of the state of Guanajuato revealed some reasons why she decided to stop competing for the place where she was born, to sheathe herself in the Mexican flag. She also considered that she is never alone before appearing in the tatamis around the world, since she always carries with her the music of her brothers.

“In Mexico I have found joy, I believe that here they fight with their hearts and do it for their country. It is something that I have loved here, because they do it in the fights, training and in everything else. It's not for money or any other external reason, but because they want to see the country improve; it's something that has helped me a lot because where I come from they see you as a number. Here I felt a fire in my heart that we wish to improve and do good.

“My brothers make music, and before my fights I put them in my headphones because I sense that they are there with me. Listening to their voices gives me a lot of calm, and I feel that I am not alone, it is something religious for me,” she concluded.

Prisca Awiti wins silver at Paris 2024, the first Olympic medal for Mexican judo

Mexican judoka Prisca Awiti wrote her name on the pages of national Olympics by winning the silver medal in the under 63 kilograms category at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The athlete, born in London, England and of Mexican nationality, gave her country the first Olympic medal in the history of this discipline and the second of this edition, after the bronze medal of the women's archery team.

The Champs de Mars Arena was the venue that hosted the feat of the Aztec athlete, who triumphed in four of her five contested bouts so that Mexico reached its 75th medal in the Olympic Games, the 25th silver medal and the 17th in a women's individual competition.

The reigning Central American champion joined a select group of national women who have reached the second place on an Olympic podium, after Pilar Roldán (1968), Ana Gabriela Guevara (2004), Belém Guerrero (2004), Aída Román (2012), Paola Espinosa-Alejandra Orozco (2012), Guadalupe González (2016) and María del Rosario Espinoza (2016).

Her presentation in the French capital filled the national public with hope, as in just 35 seconds she made Nigara Shaheen, from the Refugee Olympic Team, surrender, which gave her the victory by ippon 10-0 in the round of 32.

After making it to the round of 16, the bronze medalist at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games prepared for her next challenge: Poland's Angelika Szymanska, ranked fourth in the world and reigning world runner-up.

Despite not starting as the favorite, Awiti imposed her dominance and got a point in the beginning against the European, who with the passing of the seconds fell into despair by the defense of her opponent in turn, which determined the 1-0 victory for the representative of Guanajuato.

The opponent for the quarterfinals was another judoka from the “Old Continent”, the Austrian Lubjana Piovesana, gold medalist in the Grand Slam Dushanbe and Baku this year, who started with an advantage of one point, however, after a review, this record was reversed.

The match went to sudden death, where the Mexican won the match to reach the semifinals.

In the round of the best four, Awiti did not hold anything back and went on the offensive from the first moments of the match against the Croatian Katarina Kristo, to whom she applied a submission that determined the 11-0 on the scoreboard and her qualification to the final.

The fight for Olympic glory was against the Slovenian Andreja Leski, European champion in 2023, with whom she fought the last bout of the day, which was defined in favor of the latter by a final score of 10-1 and her obtaining the golden metal, so that Awiti became the winner of the historic silver.

It is a pride to make history, I hope to inspire the generations to come: Prisca Awiti

One word defined Prisca Guadalupe Awiti Alcaraz's performance in Paris 2024: historic. The judoka was awarded the Olympic runner-up position in the -63 kilogram division, giving Mexico its first medal in this discipline within the Olympic Games.

The Champs de Mars Arena, in the heart of the French capital, was given to the athlete of Mexican and Kenyan blood, after her fight against Slovenian Andreja Leski gave her second place in the category.

“I still can't believe it, it hasn't dawned on me that I am an Olympic medalist, but I feel very proud, very happy; unfortunately it couldn't be gold, but I am happy with my fights today,” she commented.

“It is an honor to make history, an honor to achieve this medal is not only for me but for my team, it is a job of my teammates, physiotherapists, doctors, everything, this medal is also as much theirs as it is mine,” she added.

After her historic medal, the judoka, champion at the Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023, highlighted and thanked the support she has received from the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE) throughout this cycle.

“For judo, the support of CONADE has been very good, they have supported us throughout this Olympic cycle, thanks to them, I have been able to leave the country and do the camps that we have done and now achieve this medal,” she said.

“I have lived in Villas Tlalpan since 2020, it is like my home, my workplace, I feel very comfortable there, it has been the best place for me, after Tokyo, I began to receive support from CONADE,” she added.

Prisca Awiti is confident that this important achievement for Mexican sport will open the way for more athletes to be inspired and to know that everything is possible.

“In Mexico, women are very strong, we have a lot of talent and this will not be the last. It is an honor to win this first medal, but I am sure that it will not be the last. I hope to inspire the generations to come and that everything is possible,” she said.

Lilian Estrada highlights teamwork behind Prisca Awiti's historic medal

To reach the silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Prisca Awiti defeated four strong rivals that placed her in the grand final of the -63 kilograms event of women's judo.

In the last fight, the representative of the state of Guanajuato achieved second place, a fact that Lilian Estrada, president of the Mexican Judo Federation (FMJ) highlighted and assured that it has been an inter-institutional teamwork that led to such a feat.

"We are very happy, Prisca came well-prepared, convinced that she could achieve a medal for Mexican judo, and she fought very well, she won her four fights and finally, there is too much happiness, but this is a team effort," she detailed.

Lilian Estrada said that this sporting feat would not have been achieved without the support of the Federal Government, CONADE, CODE Guanajuato, among others.

“CONADE supported us in the preparation stages, camps and competitions, it has been a support, a team where they had to participate to qualify for these Olympic Games,” she explained.

“Since everyone is concentrated in Villas Tlalpan, it is the meeting point for work where they have all the multidisciplinary support, I practically lived there, and here are the results,” she said.

It is a great honor to be Prisca's coach and to be part of Mexican judo: Jorge Atencio

During the current Olympic cycle, Prisca Awiti Alcaraz has been directed by coach Jorge Luis Atencio Ramírez, together they signed the feat of becoming historic Olympic medalists in Paris 2024.

The judoka and the Cuban-born professor won the silver medal in the final of the -63 kilogram women's category on the tatami of the Champ de Mars Arena in the French capital, a fact that, he assured, will revolutionize national judo.

"I'm still nervous, for me, it's something big, and thanks to Mexico for all the support, to CONADE and its director Ana Gabriela Guevara, who gave all the support to Mexican judo, and we have received everything to be able to achieve this," he commented.

“It is a great honor and pleasure to be part of the national team and to be her coach, as well as that of all the other athletes. Mexican judo has been evolving and revolutionizing. We already have several medalists, and it has been advancing little by little,” he continued.

Jorge Atencio highlighted that Awiti’s qualities are a winning mentality, discipline and that training with men to improve her performance in combat has been fundamental to the success that was consolidated with the Parisian medal after a successful cycle.

“Her thinking is fundamental. She is an athlete with great abilities, a healthy mindset, she has mastery. They were very difficult fights because these athletes have been medalists in international events, and we were beating them. We were close to gold, but an Olympic medal was achieved,” he assured.